Burt Solomons

A congressional redistricting plan speeding its way through the Texas Legislature this week almost certainly will provoke a major test of the federal 1965 Voting Rights Act.

Texas Democrats and civil rights groups argue that the Legislature’s Republican majority is illegally cheating the Houston region from getting a second majority Latino district and the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex from getting its first.

Voting Rights Act critics say the law results in reverse discrimination against non-Hispanic whites and punishes the great-grandchildren of white segregationists for the sins of their ancestors.

As soon as I saw the proposed 36th Congressional District, I knew there was trouble brewing.

If you haven’t heard the yelps from Democrats and Republicans alike, Houstonians and Deep East Texans, here’s the skinny on the district dubbed “The Giant Shrimp” by a clever Beaumont Enterprise blogger.

A top state Republican said today that the newly proposed congressional map, which includes an odd-looking “horseshoe” district stretching from the northwestern edge of Harris County to the Louisiana border, will undergo significant changes.

“It’s a proposal, people,” said an exasperated state Rep. Burt Solomons, R-Carrollton, co-drawer of the map. “I can assure you there will be some changes . . . It’s a work in progress.”

With the Texas legislative session winding down, the chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Redistricting concedes that lawmakers probably will not get congressional redistricting finished. “Can we get it out of the Legislature? Probably not,” said Sen. Kel Seliger.

Redistricting insiders say that one of the reasons for not having a map yet is because of disagreement among Republicans about where to draw the four new congressional districts.